Tuesday, 19 April 2016

Viber Launches Full End-to-End Encryption and ‘Hidden Chats’

Viber, one of the world’s leading messaging apps with more than 711 million unique users worldwide, today announces complete end-to-end encryption across all devices including Android and iPhone, iPad, Android tablets, PC and Mac desktops.

This feature will be available over the coming weeks to all users who have the latest version of Viber. It includes strengthened security in every voice or video call, message, video and photo, in both group messages and one-to-one communication. As part of this update, Viber also launches ‘Hidden Chats’ allowing users to hide specific chats from the main screen so no-one but the user knows they exist. These chats can only be accessed using a four digit PIN, providing an optional additional layer of privacy to users’ personal communications.

“We take our users’ security and privacy very seriously, and it’s critical to us that they feel confident and protected when using Viber,” said Michael Shmilov, COO of Viber. “Because of this, we have spent a long time working on this latest update to ensure that our users have the most sophisticated security available and maximum control over their communications. We will continue to make this an ongoing priority as digital communication evolves.”

Rolling out globally over the coming weeks, users will automatically be protected by end-to-end encryption in all communications on their smartphone once they have upgraded to the latest version of Viber - v6.0 or higher. Users who are also using Viber on an iPad, Android tablet or desktop will be prompted to re-connect it to their phone using a QR code.All communications can benefit from an additional layer of security through account verification. Users will see a color-coded lock on the right hand side of the screen indicating the level of security.